Depends on who your client is.
Actually, i realized when working with people from the creative industry who value designers and what they do, they trust my decision. As for those who know less about design, they feel as if they know better. Does that make sense? :)

if you do present 3 options, state strongly which you think is the strongest and why it works. Or just have 3 options that all work great for you!

It depends on what client I work with. With some clients I involve them in my first phase… showing off several pencil och paper sketches. If they select the "wrong" here – I develop my own favorite as well as their pick and try to persuade them in the next phase.

With some clients however I just interview them a lot, talking strategy, doing my market research and then… I show them just (1) option which is made in a computer (leaving the several pencil and paper sketches in my drawer). If it's not to their liking I make adjustments in the second phase or a completely new design.

With this said I'm still looking to adjust my presentation formula – because all methods can fail. What is really good is teaming with a non designer strategist or account manager that can "speak the language of the client". This person can help bridge the gap from design speak to be about customer benefits. Of course, you as a designer can talk about customer benefits and strategy all by yourself but I guess sometimes the clients likes to hear this from a non-designer. I've been saved some times by this when the client was in doubt.

I'm a firm believe (like http://www.thedesignmethod.com) of not providing a client with many options to choose from. It makes little sense to me to come up with several solutions to a problem when I think one is best, and to spend time developing alternatives when I could be funneling my efforts into the option I consider best. it is a waste of my time, and possibly their money, to offer services in this way.

You might want to say "I strongly recommend using this one" because..... I know it's hard I have the clients do the same thing to me often. Some clients always want to put their little touch on the project, which usually mucks it up!!!

Let the clients understand that you are the one who knows best but at the same time explain them why they should give you full power to design and create, your task is to make them feel safe "in your arms" :)

I like to offer options to my clients as well, but if I look at one of the options and know I'd hate it if they chose it I scrap and either give them another one I can be proud of or just narrow their options. Sometimes too many options isn't what's best for the client.

When working with difficult clients I try to gently remind them that I'm a designer and they hired me for a reason. I'm not just a pen or some other tool they can use, they hired me for me expertise and knowledge and in order for them to get their full money's worth I need a little autonomy.

No multiple versions

I got some advice for you: Stop serving the client multiple versions. Present them only one. It all comes down to working with a good briefing document and listening to your clients needs, so that it can be translated into a fitting design. When you present them multiple versions, it comes across as doubtful, unprofessional and places the client in the designer's seat. Defeats the purpose of why they hired you in the first place.

IMO, if there's an option that you'd rather not have to client to go for, dont present it to him. As simple as that. Also, one thing im starting to understand more than ever is that there is no shame in presenting just 2 options. If anything, presenting less shows that you were able to narrow down what suits your client best to a minimal number of designs.

Show your work, when you have finished all of it and when you have a consolidated opinion of each one of them so you can find out which one is THE solution for the problem. Then, optimize the presentation dramaturgy –show the bad ones and argument why these are not the solution. Then convince with the your favorite. (it shouldn't be your favourite –it should solve the problem best. It's not about taste...)